The present invention relates to a depilatory device, namely to a device for removing body hair, such as are used for cosmetic purposes. The invention is particularly useful with respect to the depilatory device described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,726,375, which issued Feb. 23, 1988, and is therefore described below particularly with respect to that patent.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,726,375 describes a novel depilatory device for removing hair, comprising: a manually-grippable housing, and a hair-plucker body rotatably mounted to the housing and having an exposed section formed with a plurality of gaps in its outer surface which open and close during the rotation of the hair-plucker body to receive, pluck, and eject body hair growing on a surface over which the hair-plucker body is moved. In the device of that application, the hair-plucker body is a flexible cylindrical member of plastic material, preferably a natural or synthetic elastomeric material, having a smooth outer surface formed with a plurality of slits penetrating only partially through the plastic cylindrical member and extending circumferentially thereof. The plastic cylindrical member is rotated about its longitudinal axis and is supported in an arcuate position such that the slits open at the convex side of the plastic cylindrical member during its rotation to receive the hairs between the open confronting faces of the slits, and close at the concave side of the plastic cylindrical member during its rotation to clamp the hairs between the closed confronting faces of the slits and thereby to pluck them during the rotation of the cylindrical members.
That patent application describes a number of important advantages provided by such a construction over the previously-known depilatory devices, particularly the helical-spring type. These advantages include a softer feel to the skin, less possibility of "pinching" the skin, a much larger surface area for contacting and clamping the hairs thereby making the device more effective to remove shorter hairs; a substantial reduction in the danger of electrical shock in having a non-conductive member contacting the skin; and the substantial reduction in the expense in having the hair-plucker body made of a simple plastic cylindrical member which may be manufactured in volume and at low cost.
An object of the present invention is to provide further improvements in depilatory devices in general, and particularly in the depilatory device of U.S. Pat. No. 4,726,375.